The Nordics are betting on Ukrainian defence tech

Welcome to the DIM Newsletter, curated by Defense Innovation Highway and Defender Media. It’s a bi-weekly digest of the most significant developments in Ukrainian defence tech, with a focus on what matters to the Nordics.

Our lead story: Danish funds Myriad Defence and Final Frontier have merged to back defence tech startups in Ukraine and the Nordics, targeting €100m. We spoke to the funds' leadership for exclusive comments.

Other Nordic investors are active too. Norway's Gardar joined one of the biggest deals of the past two weeks, backing reconnaissance drone maker Buntar Aerospace in its latest funding round alongside Lithuanian Iron Wolf. Meanwhile, Denmark's North Ventures led a round for British-Ukrainian autonomy startup Occam Industries, joined by Finland's Sparkmind and several other Northern European funds.

Government-level cooperation between Ukraine and Northern Europe also deepened in late September and early October. Ukraine and Finland signed a Drone Deal, Lithuania announced the deployment of a Ukrainian air-target detection system, and a major Ukrainian SIGINT company opened an office in Denmark. Separately, Mykyta Rozhkov, chief business development officer at Frontline Robotics, said Ukraine and Norway are working on a joint autonomous maritime system.

Danish funds Myriad Defence and Final Frontier merge to launch €100m defence tech fund for Ukraine and the New Nordics

Final Frontier and Myriad Defence, two Danish venture funds focused on defence tech startups, are joining forces under the Final Frontier brand and targeting €100m for a new joint fund. Final Frontier Fund II will back pre-seed and seed-stage defence companies from Ukraine and the New Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The first close is planned before the end of 2026.

The Final Frontier team will lead the new fund, while Myriad's operations team will provide a cost-effective administrative setup. Myriad's partners will run a Founders Circle, a group of founders of unicorns and battle-tested solutions, who will help with due diligence and portfolio support, Myriad Director Nima Sophia Tisdall and Final Frontier founding member Martin Majercin told us.

The funds do not name priority sectors. Instead, they assess startups by what prevents them from scaling.

"Across land, air, maritime, space and cyber, we are looking for the teams removing the constraints that prevent the next generation of capabilities from emerging. That might be edge computing, resilient connectivity, power, space propulsion, distributed command and control, or the technology that finally makes autonomous swarming practical," Tisdall and Majercin say.

The investors want to back teams early, before their technology or business model becomes an obvious bet and its importance is widely understood. They are in talks with several startups but do not disclose names. If Final Frontier Fund II reaches its €100m target, the average cheque could reach €2.5m.

The combined portfolio currently stands at 15 startups, 12 of which are backed by Final Frontier, founded in late 2024 and launched its first €4.5m fund in May 2025. Several portfolio companies have Ukrainian founders: Farsight Vision, Dropla Tech, G-Next Intelligence and one undisclosed startup.

Myriad Defence, a €2m fund launched in August 2025, has invested in Shotling, which is developing a small anti-drone cannon; North Propulsion, a maker of satellite propulsion systems; and one more undisclosed startup.

Denmark will host the first Danish Defense Tech Week on 5–12 November 2026, with events in Copenhagen, Aalborg, Aarhus and Odense bringing together engineers, defence tech companies, military professionals, investors, researchers and policymakers from Denmark, the Nordic countries, Ukraine and across Europe. Organised by Defense Innovation Highway and the European Defense Tech Hub, the initiative aims to connect Ukraine’s operational experience with Denmark’s defence innovation ecosystem, accelerate practical cooperation and help technologies move from development to operational use and scale.

The programme will focus on electronic warfare, AI and autonomy, next-generation UAS and UAVs, as well as counter-drone systems, critical and underwater infrastructure protection, maritime and Arctic domain awareness, resilient communications and information operations.

GR

Ukraine signed Drone Deal with Finland

Ukraine and Finland have concluded a defence cooperation agreement in the Drone Deal format. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Finnish President Alexander Stubb signed the document on September 23.

The Drone Deal covers exchanging experience and technologies, joint production, and opportunities for cooperation between companies from the two countries.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre also attended Zelensky and Stubb's meeting. Norway signed the Drone Deal with Ukraine a month before.

The previous meeting of Zelensky and Stubb was on August 23. Several memorandums between defence companies from the two countries were signed that day:

• Airlogix announced plans to manufacture drones in Finland together with Innokas
• General Cherry and Patria agreed to jointly produce drones in Finland
• Tencore to set up joint venture with Insta to produce Ukrainian UGVs in Finland

Ukraine and Norway are developing an autonomous system to protect marine infrastructure

Ukraine and Norway are jointly developing an autonomous system to protect critical maritime infrastructure, Frontline Robotics CBDO Mykyta Rozhkov said. Ukraine is contributing combat experience and technology, while Norway is providing high-tech components and sensors.

The company also sees broader potential for Ukrainian-Norwegian defence cooperation. Rozhkov says growing drone-dominance zones will require longer-range robotic systems, autonomous platforms and greater automation, with a future where one operator could control up to 10 drones.

Lithuania deploys Ukrainian SkyFortress air target detection system

Lithuania has begun deploying a pilot version of Ukraine’s SkyFortress airspace surveillance system to detect and track low-flying drones and other airborne threats. The system, developed in Ukraine, uses acoustic and radio-frequency signatures to detect and classify targets in real time, with AI helping to track them. Lithuania signed a contract for the system this summer, covering sensor data processing, acoustic and radio-frequency signature libraries based on unclassified data, and personnel training.

The system is being tested to assess its ability to detect and identify low-flying UAVs in Lithuania. SkyFortress is already used in Ukraine: in 2025, 14,000 sensors were reportedly deployed to detect targets, with plans to increase the number to 30,000 with NATO support. A single sensor module costs 400–1,000, and Romania has also tested the system.

Business relations

Infozahyst, part of MITS Industries, opens R&D office in Denmark

Ukrainian SIGINT solutions manufacturer, Infozahyst, has launched an R&D office in Denmark as part of Danish-Ukrainian MITS Industries. The centre is already operational and will expand its team.

The Danish base will give the company access to local scientific infrastructure, equipment and international engineering expertise, allowing it to pursue research that is difficult to conduct in Ukraine alone. Infozahyst’s core R&D and production base will remain in Ukraine.

For more: https://thedefender.media/en/2026/09/mits-industries-infozahyst-rnd-office/

Buntar Aerospace raises $16M to scale up and enter foreign markets

Ukrainian defence tech company Buntar Aerospace has raised $16 million, bringing its total funding to $30 million. The round was led by Freedom Fund and an undisclosed international private equity fund, with Norwegian Gardar, Iron Wolf and Autonomy Capital also participating. Founded in August 2023, Buntar develops reconnaissance drones and software, with its Buntar-3 and Buntar Copilot already used by Ukrainian frontline units. 

The company will use the new funding to accelerate product development, expand production capacity and strengthen its engineering and management teams, while continuing to develop Buntar Copilot. Buntar also plans to enter foreign markets with dual-use solutions, expanding beyond its current reconnaissance-focused products. Earlier in March 2026, the company raised $10.4 million in a round led by US-based Axon Enterprise.

More on the deal: https://thedefender.media/en/2026/10/buntar-aerospace-raised-16m/

More on Gardar: https://thedefender.media/en/2026/06/gardar-ukraine/

British-Ukrainian drone autonomy startup Occam Industries raises €3.8m, with Denmark’s North Ventures as a lead investor

British-Ukrainian defence tech startup Occam Industries has raised €3.8 million in a new funding round led by Denmark’s North Ventures, with participation from Finland’s Sparkmind and UK-based Grenadyr. Existing investors Antler, Tech Horizons, T|Y|R.vc and Freedom Fund also reinvested, bringing the company’s total funding to €7 million in 2026, following a €3 million pre-seed round in February.

Founded by Gui Wainwright and Daniil Bash, Occam develops software that gives military drones autonomous capabilities without requiring hardware changes. Its modular Occam Ludus platform can be integrated into mass-produced UAVs and enables them to operate without a constant connection to an operator, including in electronic warfare environments. Its first product, Occam Ambush, provides autonomous target detection, tracking and guidance and is already deployed on FPV drones in Ukraine. The company currently works with four major Ukrainian drone manufacturers and 12 Ukrainian Armed Forces units.

Occam operates in London and Kyiv, with its Ukrainian R&D team developing and testing the technology alongside local manufacturers and military units. The new funding will support R&D, expansion of the Ukrainian engineering team, new integrations and entry into European and NATO defence markets, with applications also being developed for interceptor drones, reconnaissance, mine-laying and long-range strike missions.

For more: https://thedefender.media/en/2026/09/occam-industries-investment-3-8m/

Mykhailo Fedorov launches “Army of Robots” to accelerate battlefield robotics

Former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has launched the “Army of Robots”, a defence tech project combining a venture fund, internal defence tech companies and an R&D unit. The project aims to accelerate battlefield robotics and reduce human involvement in the most dangerous tasks.

The team plans to recruit robotics, sensor and AI specialists and achieve its first confirmed battlefield result using a humanoid robot within six months. Within 12 months, it aims to conduct an assault operation in which robots perform the most dangerous tasks without infantry involvement.

For more: https://thedefender.media/en/2026/09/fedorov-launches-army-of-robots/

Osavul Raises €8.5M Series A to expand hybrid threat intelligence

Ukrainian-founded AI company Osavul has raised €8.5 million ($10 million) in a Series A round led by 33N Ventures, with participation from Balnord, Giesecke+Devrient Ventures and existing investor 42CAP. The round brings Osavul’s total funding to approximately €12 million ($14 million). Founded in 2022 by Dmytro Plieshakov and Dmytro Bilash, the company develops AI-powered technology for detecting hostile activity across the information, cyber and physical domains. 

Osavul’s technology is used by NATO and government, defence and security institutions in more than 10 countries, including the UK, Germany, Poland, the Nordics and the US. The new funding will support further AI development, expansion of the commercial team and entry into new markets, particularly energy, transport, financial services and other critical infrastructure sectors.

For more: https://thedefender.media/en/2026/10/osavul-series-a-investment/

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